Your Unrequited Lover's Sister
by Quixotik
Summary: The origin of how Kasumi and Hitomi met! After the third Dead or Alive tournament, Hitomi and Kasumi both have things to do; Kasumi escapes to Germany, and Hitomi moves out, though her father soon falls ill. Somehow, Kasumi and Hitomi meet, and it all gets complicated. OUT of hiatus!
1. Abroad in Germany

**Kasumi and Hitomi – Your Unrequited Lover's Sister**

**Me: **You know, even though Kasumi and Hitomi are so ... connected, Team Ninja has NEVER managed to put them together in a single cutscene or whatever. I mean, Kasumi is Hitomi's unrequited lover's sister! And besides, remember in DOA:D when thought Ayane was Kasumi?

These two really need to meet. How the hell can they NOT know each other? Oh, and CCKins, if you're possibly reading this, I hope you don't mind that the general setting of this is similar to _Hitomi Assasin _just minus the whole assasination thing and other stuff.

This story is basically how Hitomi and Kasumi first met. Basically. That, and I just felt like writing this since I needed to take a quick breather from DOAX3: RTP. Chapter 3 is coming soon for that!

_Sometime after the third Dead or Alive tournament ..._

Hitomi was finally free. After all those years, Hitomi had finally bested her father at 18 years of age. Conveniently matching up with the start of her adulthood, actually. But after defeating her father, she had been, at last, allowed to leave home and live on her very own. Of course, frequent visits back home were still required!

With a little help from her father, Hitomi rented a very lovely apartment in the north side of the city, close to her high school, where she was in her final year of schooling. But ... only after a couple months or so, Hitomi's father was struck with a rather nasty illness.

The German girl became very busy, juggling her hectic school life, taking care of her father, and living on her own. Which was evidently quite hard. Some days, Hitomi's father needed her to take over instructing at the dojo, which proved difficult for the young woman. Business seemed to get worse and worse, what with the global financial crisis, and the increasing lack of physical exercise by most people.

Hitomi sighed. As much as she'd try to remain positive, sometimes it was just a bit hard.

One day, after meeting with Hayate and defeating him in battle, Kasumi had travelled overseas for a while in order to escape for a while. After all, Hayate could probably make up some cover story, right? And after all, they were fairly ruffled by Genra's treason, not to mention needing to promote Ayane to leader of the Hajinmon side of the clan.

Apparently, Kasumi had got on board a flight to ... Germany? What kind of place was that? Kasumi simply had no idea. What she did know was that she loved it when she was able to travel abroad, and see new things, and new people. True, she was completely and utterly dumbfounded at every alien concept that had smacked her right in the face, but still, she was learning. It was a joy learning about new things, new places. It was also a good break from running.

Well, at least, it WAS. Somehow ... the ninjas had caught onto Kasumi's trail ... not sure how, but well, they're ninjas. They're meant to know.

Anyway, Kasumi's ride to Germany wasn't exactly pleasant. You know how I say she "got on board a flight?" That kinda meant that she stowed away on a flight. And where does a stowaway go? The cargo hold. Normally, Kasumi would try to gain access to the cabin ... and hopefully first class, but unfortunately, all the seats were taken. And sitting on the aisle didn't get you very far either. Ninpo did help conceal her by reflecting light differently (to put it simply; invisible) but it didn't make her like a ghost. Anyway, it was a rough ride.

In any case, Kasumi managed to get to Germany, and wore a rather nice outfit; a red flower print shirt that was a little on the long side, along with some light blue shorts, with brown sandals. The flat, ungirly, and more functional variety. Oh, and just for a bit, Kasumi also let her hair down. Sure, her outfit made her stand out like a pimple on a posterior, but she usually wore this outfit when she was confident no one was pursuing her. After all, it did look quite nice ... right?

Yeah, anyway, Kasumi didn't really have much to do so she wandered around for a while. And then she chanced upon a rather charming city, the name in which Kasumi had no idea how to pronounce.

But only after half an hour in there, Kasumi felt a presence. Her ninja senses were incredibly sharp, and her survival as a nukenin only further improved that, and she could tell that someone was watching her. But because she was able to detect them so easily, it was likely that they weren't much of a threat, probably a lesser ninja. Kasumi smiled. Even if they were on different sides, Hayate still tried to be easy on his sister.

Kasumi quickly merged with an oncoming crowd of people and was able to lose her pursuer. The kunoichi then fled to somewhere nice and quiet ... but out of the blue, shurikens came flying out from up above, and Kasumi quickly dodged them.

How could she be this stupid! The lesser ninja was probably a trap! She then had a sudden change in mind. Hayate was such a meanie.

But Kasumi didn't have time to think about that. She quickly sped into another alley, running, dashing, jumping, anything to flee. Her pursuers were probably on the rooftops, and they had the advantage. But Kasumi was fast, and clever, and with a little luck, could easily evade them.

After running for at least 10 minutes, Kasumi found no other choice but to hide between a couple of people, using ninpo to conceal herself, and followed the people, entering some kind of building. Funny, because she swore that while she hid herself, she read some kanji on a sign. Kanji ... in Germany? That wasn't right. Oh well, she could find out while she went in.

The inside of the building was fairly large and airy, with beams of light protruding up from above, decorated with wooden pillars and beams all across the room. The floor was wooden, but the walls were a drab grey, made of brick. A lone girl, not much older than Kasumi herself, stood at the end of the hall, wearing a karate gi with a black belt.

"OSU!" cried the people at the entrance. Kasumi ... was partially familiar ... and partially not. But she just kept on going. She saw that most people headed off to some room in the back, but Kasumi was pretty sure that was because they had some affiliation with the place; she did see a 12 year old boy with his mother approaching the girl, the latter whom asked to join the dojo.

Kasumi stood near the entrance, watching them and planning out her next action. This was the perfect cover. She was going to join a karate dojo.


	2. Dojo Training

**Kasumi and Hitomi – Your Unrequited Lover's Sister**

**Me: **Time for another run of YULS! Weird acronym, but oh well. Now let's get to the "Kasumi meets Hitomi" part!

_At the dojo ..._

Kasumi had decided. She was going to join this dojo. For now at least. It's not like she had anywhere else to go. Plus, it'd probably serve as a good hideaway when being pursued. Plus, it could be interesting learning new things. It reminded Kasumi of her childhood, where she trained hard and long, usually either with Hayate or Ayane, and occasionally Hayabusa. As the second in line, Kasumi received special training with Hayate, in the event that Hayate couldn't lead the clan. That special training gave her a much greater perspective into the world, and learning a new style of martial art could do a lot of good. It's nice to learn, right?

Kasumi then approached the girl, who turned and smiled at the kunoichi.

"Um, I-I'm here to join this d-dojo," stammered Kasumi, slightly nervous. It took quite a bit of courage to do that, since Kasumi wasn't particularly used to interacting with people when she was travelling.

"Sure! Okay, so I'll get you to write your first and last name here ... oh, and the first lesson's a trial, so it'll be completely free. Contact details here, and you'll be good to go for today!"

Kasumi suddenly felt scared. She didn't have contact details! What were "contact details" exactly? Oh dearie ... Kasumi paused for quite a while, thinking and mulling it over. And so the papers ended up only having Kasumi's name ... which wasn't too good for Hitomi. The German girl couldn't tell if Kasumi was just kidding around, or actually serious.

"Uh, you have to write your contact details too so we can reach you just in case."

"Oh, um, I don't really have any of those things ..."

"Erm, okay then, well, we'll just get on with the lesson then. Go to the room down that way over there, and there's a dressing room with karate gi's. Try one out, and come back here and then we'll start!"

Kasumi nodded meekly, and turned around and walked towards a door, which read "dressing room." She sighed a giant breath of relief inside. That was scary. Her head felt completely frazzled and flustered, and her face was probably quite a bit red. Oh, the shame!

In any case, Kasumi went into the change rooms, and found a karate gi for her size. She felt a little nostalgic, seeing as the gi had a similar design to the shozoku she and the other ninja would wear. But … it wasn't exactly the same. Kasumi spent at least a minute trying to figure out how to wear it, but when she did find out, Kasumi thought it felt quite comfortable, just like the old shozokus. The kunoichi then bound her hair with her favourite yellow ribbon, and then re-entered the sparring area.

The other members of the dojo were already standing in front of Hitomi, acknowledging her as the instructor. Kasumi quickly and meekly found a spot next to the boy from before, and stood next to him whilst emulating what everyone else was doing.

"Okay everyone! We've got too new members to our dojo! Say hi to Viktor over there … and um, Kasumi!"

The others turned around and stared, making Kasumi feel really quite uncomfortable. She hadn't had that much attention in a very long time, and it was making her go red in the face, kinda like a blushing tomato. Viktor, on the other hand, seemed to be quite a ways confident and grinned back at everyone.

But there was more attention on Kasumi, seeing as she was a foreigner who had come to a karate dojo in Germany.

"Right, let's start off with a light jog!" said Hitomi, motioning for everyone to follow her as she did a "light jog" around the dojo. In realness, she was practically sprinting around the area, and the others followed suit. Of course, no one was able to catch up to Hitomi, and they all lagged behind, especially Viktor. Kasumi, however, found the exercise to be quite odd.

When she trained back at the village, they'd never go for runs; more or less, running was less of a way to exercise as to an important skill to flee.

And within seconds, Kasumi actually managed to catch up to Hitomi, even overtaking her with ease. Hitomi was shocked and a fair bit impressed by Kasumi, but she wouldn't lose to a new member!

Hitomi then kicked it up a notch, and began speeding towards Kasumi, though it was clear who was faster. By the time they stopped, the rest of the class was completely out of breath.

"O-okay then … stretches …" puffed Hitomi, attempting to make herself look a little more instructor-like … which didn't exactly work out.

And did I mention as a ninja, Kasumi was extremely flexible? I mean, her moveset practically screams "Olympic gymnast." Hitomi was starting to get a feeling that Kasumi was really quite talented.

'_Wow … Kasumi's really good … maybe she did another martial art before …' _thought Hitomi.

After the stretching, it was time to spar. Viktor and Kasumi were newbies, so Hitomi brought the two to an empty corner as the others sparred.

"Osu! Okay, so have you two done any previous martial arts or anything?"

"Nope," said Viktor.

Kasumi hesitated for a moment, and said, "Yes."

Hitomi suddenly felt curious.

"Okay, that's fine. So which one?" asked Hitomi.

"Um … well, it's a bit hard to explain …" mumbled Kasumi, her eyes veering away, and staring at a very interesting wooden pillar somewhere.

"So, how 'bout the name?"

"Um … well, I, uh, m-my grandfather taught it to me when I was little but he never really told me what it was …" blurted Kasumi, thinking of a quick excuse.

Hitomi didn't feel completely convinced, but shook away the thoughts. She wasn't here to interrogate her; she was here to instruct.

"Well, that's fine. Okay, so we'll start off with stance. It's one of the most important things in martial arts, so you put your left or right foot first, depending on if you're left or right handed, and the other foot will be pointing to the left or the right, and they'll be about shoulder width apart," explained Hitomi, gesturing for the two.

Viktor managed to quickly find the stance, but Kasumi seemed to have a bit of trouble. Whenever she tried to get into karate stance, she'd automatically slide into her Mugen Tenshin Tenjinmon style stance. Which was admittedly a bit similar to the karate stance … but not quite there.

"So Kasumi, it's more like this," said Hitomi, pushing Kasumi's limbs into the stance. The kunoichi confusedly nodded, but her arms automatically slid back into the Tenjinmon stance.

Hitomi got the feeling that she'd better just go with it for now; no point trying to kick it into her. So Hitomi began going through the basic concepts; using the hips to concentrate power, striking strong and true, and locking the limbs into place, as well as being light on the feet.

Kasumi … didn't really get it. Viktor seemed to do pretty well, which was pretty good in Hitomi's eyes, but when it came to sparring …

Anyway, Hitomi restarted the sparring, and she and Kasumi paired up. At first, Kasumi slid into her usual stance, while Hitomi went into her karate stance.

To start off with, Hitomi attacked slowly and deliberately, trying to make it as easy as possible. Kasumi, however, immediately counterattacked with blinding speed, and Hitomi's high punch had turned into Kasumi pummelling Hitomi into the ground with her right knee after holding the blow.

"Ah – sorry! Did I go too far?" asked Kasumi concernedly, trying to help Hitomi up.

"W-wow … you're really good, Kasumi. Oh, and when we're sparring, you usually don't have to help your opponent up, unless you really hurt them. It is sparring after all."

Kasumi nodded, but she didn't look too convinced. Hitomi, realising Kasumi's strength, proceeded to attack with slightly greater speed and power, and her strikes gradually became faster and faster, stronger and stronger, and fiercer and fiercer.

The kunoichi, however, was able to block, dodge, and parry all of them, trying not to use another technique as a ninja. She was unaccustomed to NOT using her skills when she needed to, though blocking seemed to be a universal thing, and so the kunoichi went with it.

Hitomi, on the other hand, was getting more and more impressed by Kasumi's ability. Even though she was meant to stop the sparring to continue onto the practising of techniques, she kept going at her spar with Kasumi, and everyone else gathered around them, and watched them spar it out.

Finally, Hitomi attempted to use a flying back kick on Kasumi, and knew that she couldn't block it, though Kasumi swiftly countered it, redirecting the kick upwards which flipped Hitomi, while quickly sidestepping.

Hitomi then got off the floor. The two saluted each other with an "osu," and rejoined the class. The rest of the class continued as normal, with the students all practising the various techniques, and some practising on punching bags. Hitomi oversaw the class, walking around and checking for mistakes. However, she always kept her eye on Kasumi, feeling very quite curious.

Finally, class ended. Everyone got changed out of their uniform, and as the rest of the dojo members exited, Kasumi dawdled around for a bit, as she suddenly realised something. The moment she exited, danger would be imminent. It might cause harm unto the other members, and so she stayed back for a little while.

"Hey Kasumi! You did really well in sparring today! But you might wanna work on some of your technique, since I think you're a bit too used to your old style," said Hitomi, changed out of her gi, and into a denim outfit.

"Oh, okay then."

"So whatcha staying for? Are your parents picking you up or something?"

"O-oh, um no, it's nothing. I, uh, live pretty close around here …"

"Well, I can walk you home if you want. I live around here too."

"Oh, no! I-it's fine, don't worry about it – "

"I'm only walking with you for a bit anyway! Let's go!"

"B-but!"

"No buts, Kasumi!"

Hitomi then dragged Kasumi out of the dojo, flicking off the lights, and they began walking down the street. Kasumi felt seriously worried; Hitomi become a target for her pursuers, and she didn't need anyone else to be dragged into her mess.

"I'm really sorry, I have to go!" yelled Kasumi, and she immediately disappeared down a corner.

Hitomi suddenly felt a little sad and even a bit hurt at the fact that Kasumi ran away. She stood there contemplating for a moment … but shrugged it off. After all, maybe Kasumi had something important … or something?

Oh well. She had to get home soon anyway. What a day!

**Me: **There we go! YULS chappie 2 has been finished!


	3. Unexpected Coincidence

**Your Unrequited Lover's Sister**

**Me: **Oh ... dearie me. I haven't updated in months. GAHHHH! ... sorry 'bout that. I am so very verrrrry sorry. But you're not here to listen to my pathetic excuse of an apology, so I'll just get straight to YULS! It's ... a little short, and not too good though, since I haven't written in so long!

Um ... it might sound like Kasumi's a lesbian ... but she's not! I have NO intention for this to be a yuri fic. And I've forgotten to do this in practically all my fics, but ... I don't own Dead or Alive and it's characters!

_The afternoon of the next day ..._

Kasumi sighed. Not because she was stuck in an abandoned little shed at the outskirts of the city, and not because she was completely without food/water (well, she didn't really want to steal ... ), but ... hmm. How do you put it? She felt sorry for ditching Hitomi out on the street without explanation, and truthfully, she quite liked Hitomi. She friendly, spunky, and so ... so full of life. Life that Kasumi would never have ... well, at least she hoped she would have it again, but the chances were pretty slim. The clan wasn't just about to hand her a "Yes, we love you again now, and don't wish to kill you" letter and let her come back to her old life.

Again, Kasumi sighed. She guessed that sitting there wouldn't do any good. She would make things up with Hitomi! Oh, yes she would! Kasumi thought for a moment, and tried to think of something.

Going out to the shops or a cafe would definitely not be a good idea; her little escapade before proved it quite well. Maybe buying Hitomi something ...? Kasumi had a few euros that she had found conveniently lying around on the ground that people had dropped (technically, this wasn't stealing directly ... but Kasumi still felt quite guilty) and she could probably buy something with it.

But she could do that tomorrow or something. The lesson time was coming soon, and it'd be good enough to go to Hitomi's lessons. Luckily, no ambushes awaited her outside the shed, and Kasumi continued on her way. As usual, Kasumi marvelled at how pretty the city looked, and enjoyed her walk in peace ... right up 'till the entrance of the dojo. Right where she was met with ... MORE NINJAS. A squad of five, two scouts, one ninpo specialist, a ranger, and a blademaster.

Ugh. Kasumi was getting quite sick of the whole thing. Quickly fleeing into a back alley, the ninjas kept up a hot pursuit on the girl. Kasumi dashed and flung herself through different directions, up, down, left, right, up walls, down buildings, and doing a lot of flying through the air.

But it didn't look like they were amateurs. They seemed to be more skilled than usual; a not-so-good thing, really. Kasumi HAD to get to Hitomi's lesson; she didn't want to disappoint her even more by not showing up. With a newfound resolve, Kasumi lead her pursuers into a quiet alley near a few residential areas, close to the dojo. It looked like it was a rubbish dump area; exactly the place she needed.

Kasumi got herself cornered nicely in the alleyway, out of sight of people passing by. The ninja got into a tactical formation, assessing the situation, and calculating their next moves. The kunoichi, however, put on a calm and collected face, and slid into her signature stance, and released some of her ki to aid in battle.

Suddenly, two of the ninja lunged forward and attempted to perform a scissor slash; Kasumi teleported out of the way, using her trademark _Sakura Madoi _ninpo, and delivered powerful, horizontal kick to the two, and smashed them into the wall, knocking them unconscious. The ranger ninja attempted to corner Kasumi by using a deadly multi-arrow technique, though it was quickly rendered useless when Kasumi utilised her _Sakura Clone ninpo, _and she effectively knocked him out by reappearing behind him, and striking a pressure point. The blademaster then sprang towards Kasumi, the ninpo specialist charging a technique, but Kasumi knew better than to leave it that way.

Flipping backwards, Kasumi hastily used her _Hanagasumi _ninpo, which sent a petal-filled breeze of air towards the ninja, which made them drop to their knees, though the ninpo specialist quickly recovered. However, the blademaster did not, and Kasumi blasted forward and with a radiant flash of pink light and sakura petals, Oboro'd the blademaster, and completely decimating him.

As for the ninpo specialist ... he was not bad. But still no match for Kasumi. The previous technique had left him weak, and Kasumi took the chance to use a favourite technique. Oboro, but improved. The kunoichi first knocked him into the air with a backflip, teleported to a wall and sliced through him with Oboro, and landed on another wall, and kept on repeating, slicing again and again, in a crazed flurry of pink light and petals, whittling the ninpo specialist's strength, until Kasumi finally defeated him with a palm strike.

She teleported back onto the ground with some amount of satisfaction. Now to get to the lesson ... but ... wait ... was that person ... just watching the entire thing?

Kasumi's eyes opened in shock.

Hitomi ... out of all the people in the world, had just witnessed Kasumi do all that ninja-y stuff.

"Um ... did you just see that?"

"Yeah. All of it, actually."

"Oh. I see."

**Me: **Yay! I did it! It's short, but anyways! I did it! I updated!


	4. Explanation Time

**Your Unrequited Lover's Sister**

**Me: **Ok! New chapter is upppppp!

_Hitomi's POV_

Hitomi had never been a girl stuck in the world of dainty pixies who could make your all sparkly and whatnot. But seeing as the person she liked and his sister were apparently both ninjas of some hard-to-pronounce (Hajin-in-the-what-now?) clan ... her eyes were partially opened. I mean, if ninjas exist ...

But still, seeing a person like Kasumi do all those weird moves ... it kinda shakes you up a little. She DID use a lot of teleporting in there ...

_General POV_

"Um ... did you just see that?" asked Kasumi meekly, almost embarassed.

"Yeah. All of it, actually."

"Oh. I see."

"Er ... so ..." started Hitomi.

"Wait! I-I can explain ...!" began Kasumi feebly, trying to get some grip on the conversation, but failing to do so miserably.

"Oh no, it's fine. Um ... "

"So ..."

"..."

How should one react to seeing a teenage ninja decimate a assassination squad? Ridiculous question yes, but Hitomi had to answer for that.

"Maybe we should get you somewhere ..."

"Oh! Um, okay."

A little cautious, Hitomi lead Kasumi to a nearby cafe, and got them seats outside, near a little corner where they had a little bit of privacy. It was actually pretty nice looking, with a tall tree nearby and a cobbled road showing the hustle and bustle of the town/city at it's finest.

"Hey, Kasumi? D-do you mind explaining it from the start?" asked Hitomi curiously.

"Erm ..." stuttered Kasumi.

"Oh, you don't have to if you don't want to ... " said Hitomi quickly, trying not to be rude.

"... Okay then."

Kasumi took a deep breath, and exhaled. She hadn't ever told anyone about what she was facing in life and the extreme events she had been through ... but now ... now was a chance. She didn't know why, but at that moment ... her intuition told her that Hitomi could be trusted. Going against even her desire to not get Hitomi involved, Kasumi began.

"You know, I've never introduced myself properly, have I? I'm Kasumi. I'm seventeen, and I'm from a ninja clan in Japan, in the mountain parts. I've been exiled, and I'm ... on the run. People are coming after me, and I've just been running. All this time, and it's been really hard. Really, really hard."

Kasumi felt as though all the words just tumbled out of nowhere. Before, it was incredibly difficult just to make a coherent sentence. Or utter a proper word. Um's and er's are not words. Even still, it didn't feel like she had cleared anything up. Just more confusion.

Hitomi, on the other hand, felt an incredible mix of emotions. She felt sorry for the poor girl, and really wanted to help her, but also felt, in the back of her head ... a certain sense of curiosity. Did she ... did she maybe know Ein – er, Hayate? Could she? But the girl looked so sad at the mention of all this ... Hitomi would ask later. Now was the time to help her out.

"Do you have a place to stay or anything?" asked Hitomi.

Kasumi shook her head.

That's it. Hitomi had just decided something completely out of the blue.

"... Kasumi, what do you say about living with me and my dad?"

"O-oh, I couldn't! Really! I don't want to be a burden ... and they might-"

"It's fine! You need a place to stay anyway, right? Okay, it's decided!"

"B-but-"

"No buts! Come on, it won't hurt just to stay a while anyway! By the way, do you wanna get something to eat or drink? Because seriously, you look really hungry ..."

Kasumi felt her tummy rumble in response. Embarassed, Kasumi nodded. Hitomi smiled.

"Anything you wanna get?"

"I'm not too familiar with the food around here, so ..."

"Oh, no problem. I'll just get some sachertorte for both of us," replied Hitomi and she went off to find a waiter. After a little while, two plates of dark-coloured cake and a glass of orange juice and another of apple juice came over.

"So, what is sachetarte?" asked Kasumi curiously.

"It's sacherTORte. It's pretty much chocolate cake, but with apricot jam somewhere in there," explained Hitomi, pointing at the cake.

Curious, Kasumi took hold of her fork, cut off a piece, and ate it, much to her delight. A broad smile spread across Kasumi face, and she continued eating it rapidly, until it was all gone. And then she got started on her apple juice, drinking it in seconds.

Hitomi was a little intimidated at how fast she ate (how long did she starve for?), but put on a smile, and continued to eat. Kasumi let out a sigh of contentness, and gazed into the distance, admiring the city. It was around sunset, and it was getting a little late to be out.

"I'm guessing you really liked it, huh?" said Hitomi, after she finished her cake.

"Yeah, it's really nice. Oh, and Hitomi," began Kasumi.

"Yep?"

"How come you weren't teaching today? You know, at the dojo and all ..."

Hitomi let out a sudden laugh, and grinned.

"It's a Saturday! It's the weekend!"

"Ohhhh ..." said Kasumi sheepishly.

"Anyway, we better get back home. Come on, let's go!"

It turned out that Hitomi's place was pretty much right next to where Kasumi had her little battle. Apparently, Hitomi was just taking out the garbage ... and happened to see her and all.

"Here it is! It's not the prettiest place to look at, but it's home! I actually have my own apartment, but I've had to stay back home for a while, so yeah," introduced Hitomi.

Kasumi smiled a little. Home. It was a rare word in her dictionary. Somehow, she felt calm. Maybe even a little excited. It was a wholly new experience for her to come over to someone else's house.

Hitomi's house was technically just an apartment on the first floor. But it was still a nice and cosy place, giving off a friendly feel. It was fairly small; it was a living room with a dining table and TV, with rooms placed in each direction. Hitomi lead Kasumi through the front door and Hitomi gestured for Kasumi to sit down at the dining table. Hitomi then went into one of the rooms, and dragged her father out, an large, white-haired man with blue eyes like Hitomi. He was wearing a simple white shirt and grey shorts combo, and looked a bit unwell.

"Dad, I know it might be a bit sudden, but do you mind if, um, Kasumi stays here for a little bit?"

"Not a problem! You're more than welcome, Miss Kasumi," replied Hitomi's father with a grin. Seeing Kasumi's tired expression made him want to help instantly.

"Thanks, Dad! I'll just show her around then," said Hitomi, and she then proceeded to drag Kasumi around her house, showing her each and every one of the rooms. Kasumi actually enjoyed it a little, seeing as how different it was from her normal way of living. Hitomi's father seemed really nice too.

"And here's where you'll be sleeping!" exclaimed Hitomi. She showed Kasumi her own room, a slightly messy tomboy's room.

Posters of karate related stuff, knick knacks, and school stuff lay around the room. Her bed was apparently a double bed because it was meant for her and her mother to sleep in, just in case Hitomi wanted her mother by her side. But after her death, Hitomi still kept the double bed, since it was bigger anyway. And useful for sleepovers.

Kasumi's eyes nearly began to water the moment she laid eyes on the bed. It looked so soft and comfy ... but Hitomi then excitedly dragged her companion back to the living room, where she and Kasumi plopped themselves on a small couch in front of the TV.

"So that's it! My house in a nutshell. Whatcha wanna do next?"

Kasumi felt a little lightheaded. It was such a different place ... and so accepting, kind and warm. She smiled. She knew that the next few days or so would be just wonderful.


	5. The First Night

**Your Unrequited Lover's Sister**

**Me: **Ooohh ... It's been a while again ... but hey, I'm here ... and so is the chappie ... and it's long too ...

_At Hitomi's place ..._

Kasumi loved it. Being with Hitomi and her father. It was a feeling she hadn't truly felt in a long, long time. A sense of family. Every moment was like spending time on top of the clouds, free of worries and fears. For the time being ... Kasumi had forgotten all about her situation. And perhaps, rightfully so. She hadn't been so happy in a while, and she really needed it. Actually, it'd be more right to say that she _deserved _it.

The first night was quite memorable. Kasumi spent a while watching Hitomi and her father boisterously cheering on for their favourite soccer teams (Hitomi's father was still a little ill, but was more than ready to cheer on his favourite team). Kasumi couldn't help but smile at the father-daughter pair, carefree and energetic. She just couldn't resist their lovable attitudes, always grinning, always positive. After the soccer match ended with a triumphant uproar from Hitomi and her father, the German girl went to the tiny kitchen to prepare dinner, and Hitomi's father helped lay out the table.

Kasumi sat on the sofa for a little while, mostly because Hitomi and her father specifically instructed her, after she had tried to help out, that since she was a guest, she was to relax and be as comfortable as possible. So that's what Kasumi did. As the two prepared dinner, Kasumi looked around the apartment, with curious eyes.

It was small, to say the least, as she had noted before. The walls seemed a little aged, and the wooden floor seemed to have been trodden on for years. The cosy white-brown colour scheme of the apartment, however, made up for it. However, Kasumi was most attracted to the various knickknacks hung all about on the walls, from cuckoo clocks, to beer glasses, to beautiful framed photos of what looked like rural Germany ... to a woman. A Japanese woman. That made Kasumi think for a moment. Whilst the father-daughter pair were busily cooking up ... the kunoichi considered something.

She hadn't really thought about it much ... but ... did Hitomi have some kind of story behind her? She was working as a karate instructor quite often ... and not to mention her mother appeared to be missing ...

Kasumi shook away the thoughts. She could ask Hitomi later. After all, now was -

"Dinner time!"

Kasumi leapt out of the sofa, and meekly took a seat at the small table. Everything seemed ... small in the apartment. The kunoichi immediately began to notice the fragrant smell of ... well, food (she didn't recognise it), and her stomach began to grumble furiously.

Hitomi's father, who just took a seat, grinned.

"Hungry?"

"Er, just a bit ..." replied Kasumi, a little embarassed.

"Don't you worry, Hitomi's a great cook! I'm sure you'll love her cooking," said Hitomi's father.

Hitomi quickly unloaded each one of the plates of food onto the table, and Kasumi's eyes widened in joy at the sight of it. Hitomi and her father, seeing Kasumi's reaction, smiled.

One plate had several spiced sausages, roasted to a deep brown colour, heaped with lightly steaming mashed potatoes, with mixed herbs peppered on top. Another plate had spargel (a sort of spaghetti) with Hollandaise sauce and carrots, and there was a potful of vegetable stew, along with some rye-wheat bread rolls and cheeses.

Kasumi immediately began eating (well, more like stuffing her face) and piled her plate full of food. Each one of the foods gave her a delightful new sensation, not to mention filling her poor, poor stomach. Hitomi and her father looked on in satisfaction, seeing as how Kasumi was thoroughly enjoying her meal.

"So what do you think?" asked Hitomi.

"Oh, it's delicious!" exclaimed Kasumi in joy.

"Just as I said, right?" said Hitomi's father.

Kasumi nodded, as she drank down some soup. The father-daughter pair then proceeded to eat their share in a content silence. After packing up the table, Hitomi brought a dessert to the table.

"This is Rote Grütze; it's a kind of fruit pudding. You eat it with milk and cream," said Hitomi, giving Kasumi, herself and her father a bowful of the red dessert.

Kasumi looked at it curiously, but quickly tried it out, and found it to be ... odd, but still interesting in a way.

"So Hitomi," began the karateka's father, "you haven't quite introduced me to this young lady yet, you know."

"Oh! That's right, um ... she's a new student at the dojo! And, uh, she's ... an exchange student at school! From Japan, and she's in some of my classes too., " replied Hitomi, thinking that Kasumi's actual story probably sounded a little too incredulous. I mean, ninjas don't exactly galavant around the world saying, "Hello! I'm a ninja!" Well, most of the time anyway.

"So where's Kasumi meant to be staying?" asked Hitomi's father.

"Uhh, well ..." stammered Hitomi, mindblanking rather inconveniently.

"T-the family I was meant to stay with had some troubles, so I had to find a new one. And then I got a little lost and then ..." said Kasumi, managing to find some confidence to make up a little lie.

"I found her! And she's joined the dojo too!" added Hitomi.

"Oh, I see. Well then, my dear, you're welcome to stay with us! After all, it's just me and Hitomi here," said Hitomi's father kindly.

"Thank you very much!" thanked Kasumi in that awfully Japanese oh-thank-you-so-much manner.

"So, should I ring the school or ..." asked the karateka's dad.

"Uhh, no! Um, I'll take care of that, don't worry!" said Hitomi quickly, trying to steer the conversation away from unnecessary problems. The brunette then ushered Kasumi into her room, leaving Hitomi's father a little ... weirded out.

Hitomi then shut the door in her room, and gestured for Kasumi to take a seat on her bed. Hitomi's room was actually fairly small and sparse; most of her belongings had been moved over to her new apartment, but she had still left a few trinkets behind, in case she had to stay back.

To the left of the room was Hitomi's double bed, which actually took up most of the room; a desk with a computer sat at the right end of the room, and there was a bookshelf and a small table next to the bed. The room appeared to have not been used all that much, as a bit of dust was collecting in the bookshelf and table. A few trophies and medals were lying about on the bookshelf too, some of karate, and some even of soccer!

However, various scrolls with sentences like "One hit is all it takes!" or "Mah fists are on fiyahhh!", written in Japanese kanji were hung about the walls of the room, and there were some family pictures hung above the bed. One of a baby, held between a German man and a Japanese woman.

As Kasumi drank her new environment down, Hitomi slumped relievedly into her chair next to her desk, and turned on her computer.

"Whew ... well, that was close," began Hitomi.

"Did we really have to lie to your father?" asked Kasumi worriedly, her morals sticking true (well, her inability to lie consistently was probably the one nagging at her ...).

"True, but there aren't all that many people who think ninjas exist, y'know?"

"But ninjas do exist! I mean, you're looking at one now ..."

"Actually ... about that -"

"Ooh! Hitomi, what's this?"

Kasumi held up a beaten up soccer ball, obviously used for many, many years.

"Oh, that's a soccer ball. You use it in a game of soccer," replied Hitomi.

"... okay ..."

"... you don't get what I'm saying, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, soccer's a game where you basically kick that ball around, and get it into the other team's goals. Pretty much anyway," explained Hitomi, who thought it was rather odd for Kasumi to not know what soccer was.

"Oh, right. You know, it kind of reminds me of some of the games I used to play when I was little, actually. Back in the village, me, my brother, and his friend, and my other friend would play a ball stealing game up near these pointy mountains, and we'd be there for hours and hours ..."

As Kasumi nostalgically told of her childhood memory, Hitomi could see almost a glimmer of moistness appear in the kunoichi's eye, threatening to make a tear. But in that glimmer, lay a wistful beauty and almost worldliness that made Kasumi so ... so very intriguing to Hitomi. The brunette sat there for a moment in silence, wondering what kind of life Kasumi had lead before, when she was still in Japan.

"You miss 'em, right?" asked Hitomi softly.

Kasumi trembled for a second, but calmed herself, and had an expression that told only of disguised sorrow.

"Yeah. Just a bit."

"... oh! I left my computer on; wait a sec," said Hitomi.

Hitomi then flipped around to the monitor, and did a bit of clicking through a few folders, and found a special folder. The one for her photos. But ... it looked like she needed to do a bit of tidying. As Hitomi was doing so, Kasumi took a little self-tour around the karateka's room.

"Hey, Hitomi?"

"Uh huh?"

"So are all these trophies yours?" asked Kasumi, awestruck by the number of shiny golden objects she had found on Hitomi's bookshelf.

"They sure are. Most of them are probably from karate or something."

"Oh ... then's what's this for?" said Kasumi, holding up a small trophy (if you could even call it that) with a girl in a tutu.

"Ahhh! T-that's nothing!" screamed Hitomi, quickly snatching away the trophy.

"Oh? What's this?" said Kasumi as she picked up a photo which was next to the trophy on the bookshelf. It showed a little brown-haired girl fist-pumping the air ... in a pink ballet outfit, complete with a tutu, and a tiara of sorts.

"Gimme that!" yelled Hitomi in embarassment, her face going red in shamefulness, while attempting to grab at the photo.

"Wow, was this you when you were little? Oh, you look so cute!~"

"..."

"Sorry about that."

"Just ... hand me the photo," said Hitomi darkly, clearly not impressed by Kasumi's marvelling at her younger self.

"Girls! It's time for bed! Go brush your teeth, and lights out soon!" yelled a voice from another room.

"Let's go," said Hitomi, and lead Kasumi to the bathroom, where the two quietly brushed their teeth, and did all the stuff you do before bed.

Back in Hitomi's room, the two girls changed into sleepwear (Kasumi had to wear Hitomi's), and Hitomi went back on her computer, and gestured for Kasumi to watch closely.

"So, again, there's me when I was little, and thaaaat, was my first karate championship. Which ... I only got 3rd place in, but that was when I wasn't so good."

Kasumi simply nodded.

"And here's me and my friends at a park; it was my, 10th? Or 11th? Well one of those birthdays at least, and me and my friends got together at one of the parks and we played soccer for a while, and Dad brought us ice cream cake."

The two girls went on for a while, until Kasumi decided it was getting late, and she was feeling a little tired. It was decided that Kasumi and Hitomi would share, making the most of Hitomi's larger bed. The two turned off the lights, and slid into their bed, and Kasumi sighed comfortably, at peace. But of course, the two girls still wanted to talk some more. Y'know, they are teenage girls and all.

"Anyway, I think I've talked too much about me today. Apparently I've got a habit for doing that ... but yeah. What about you, Kasumi?"

"Well, I'll tell you more if you can tell me what that last folder meant."

"Um, what?"

"The one with the hearts, and said 'Ein.'"

"T-that's ... well. I'll ... tell you sometime later, maybe," answered Hitomi almost nervously; as much as she partially wanted to tell Kasumi (she felt as though she could truly trust her), her childish side was telling her that she'd look ... easy, if she told Kasumi.

"Well, okay then ..."

"Y'know Kasumi, I've always kinda wanted a sister. I mean, my dad's always there for me and all, but-"

"You feel like you need someone a little closer to you, right? Someone on the same level, I guess," finished Kasumi.

"Yeah. Kinda like that. So I guess ... for now at least, wanna be sisters?"

It was childish act, but Kasumi and Hitomi had both longed for another to share their souls. What with Kasumi being on the run all the time, and Hitomi being an only child, whose life was getting busier by the moment.

"Yeah. Sisters," said Kasumi, and the two girls then broke into a quiet giggle that only comes from the creation of a great, new friendship.

**Me: **Okay, that was cheesy. But hey, who doesn't love cheese anyway!


End file.
